Dark Will
by Elsforever
Summary: Need a real title! Will has gone bad, how come? And how does his friends, and especially Halt react?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys,**

**Yes, I am finally back again with a new story. This one is a story which is bugging me for so long, but at the same time it is extremly hard to write. Every part in straight letters is the present, everything done in italic is a seperate plot, it holds the story to how Will ended up where he is now. **

**Hope you'll like it. **

**-Elsforever-**

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**Chapter 1**

He couldn't see much in the dark, not that there was much to see. A filthy, dilapidated old wall, with cracks that looked like spider webs. It looked ready to collapse. Water lay in pools on the ground, coming up from little rivers from between the tiling. Will's hands were bound behind his back. He felt humiliated. He was bound with his own device, the thumb cuffs. A guard entered the cell, walking towards the huddled human. Will tried to look angry, but failed .He was too tired, and too much happened in a short amount of time. His secrets were revealed, they lay out in the open. He will have a lot of explaining to do. The man who had entered the dank cell removed the straps that were around his ankles, and pulled him roughly in a standing position. After a short bit of wobbling, the Ranger stood firm on his feet once again. Outside the door stood another guard, and together they brought the criminal—Will—to a big room.

_Slowly and quietly Will snuck out of the house, sure to remain unseen. Halt was back in the cabin, so he had to put more effort in getting away. If Halt caught him, he would have to explain a lot, and Will didn't necessarily want to do that. As he got further away from the cabin, he sped up. Whoever would be in the forest—if there were any—wouldn't hear him. Will had a dark glint, full of determination, in his eyes._

They dropped him in a rickety wooden chair, which was rather comfortable. The room was warm, and the gentle flickering from the fire hit Will's eyes hard after being in the dark for quite some time. When he looked around again after his eyes adjusted, Will saw his mentor. Ashamed, he ducked his head, but his eyes were on the old man. Halt seemed to have aged a lot of years in just one night.

_Slowly Will made his way through the trees, until the path became clearer again. Soon he stood in an empty spot in the forest. A perfect circle was visible. His companion had already arrived. A gentle fire was burning, it remained unseen because of all the fog and the thick cover of the trees. He didn't put down his hood, but he did grunt a hello. Will didn't necessarily like this man. He was just an underdog. Not that he liked the leader more, but it was more manageable to be in his presence._

"Why?" came the question, asked by a strained voice. Will didn't know how to react to this. In the end, after several moments thinking and going over the past events in his head, he settled with a short sentence.

"I had to."

_The other man stood. He had a package in his hand, very casually. But the badly disguised smirk on his face meant nothing good for Will, he was sure of that, he had caught enough criminals to be familiar with them. Aodh wasn't a very pleasant man, and he was proud to be so. He enjoyed it, craved it. It was for that he joined Torradans little group. It had grown over the years, and they received quite some followers by now. He was still one of the inner followers, inside the inner circle. Slowly he walked towards the King's not-so-loyal Ranger, Will Treaty. Aodh had met with the man quite some times, and he knew he was dangerous. That's for sure._

An uncomfortable silence dawned upon the room. Neither of them knew what to say. Halt didn't know what he should make of this. Maybe Will truly had a reason. Maybe it wasn't really his choice.

_Will stood still, arms crossed before his ribcage, seemingly unbothered by the fact that the enemy was walking around him. He looked like an animal ready to jump for his prey, and Will was the one being hunted. _

_"What do you want, Aodh?" He snapped. The only he reply he got was a feral smirk, lit up darkly by the flickering flames. That is, until Will got tired of the man and smacked him against a tree. Will had been trained a lot, with the infamous discipline known of a Ranger._

Now Will is back again in the cell, between water and dirt, He could feel it infect the wounds he had from being caught, ones that would leave scars for the rest of his life. It had been a rough fight, no one held back because of the old friendship. He had been caught by Crowley and Halt. The group Will had become a part of had been tough to eliminate, it still hasn't been squashed completely. Torradan is still in hiding, somewhere out there. Normally he and Halt would be searching for the criminal, like they had with Tennyson, the thought brought back bittersweet memories. Now they were both at Castle Araluen.

_With fear lurking in the man's eyes, Will let him go. The pathetic human being, in seconds changed from being the confident, harsh man, to a begging creature, lay heaped on the ground. Will wouldn't kill him, he wasn't like that. There was also the fact he needed the man. _

_"I have a message for your master. I want to meet him again, I need a location." The other man nodded his head frightfully. Will started to walk away, but turned just before he disappeared in the shadows of the night. "Tell him I have information" _

_With that, Will vanished out of sight._

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**That was the first chapter, what do you think? Let me know what you thought, and what you think what will happen. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I am sorry this is late. At first I had the flu, then my ussual beta Justabunchofhoopla was, probably still is sick or something. So this chapter is betaed by Bralt, otherwise it would be even later. But, you have your chapter now. Thanks for the story alerts and favourites and reviews! You made me incredably happy. :D**

**-Elsforever-**

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Again Will found himself in front of Halt, for the sixth time to be exact. Will didn't like it. It was filled with uncomfortable silence, but worst then that were all the questions. They were about why he did it, when it started, and what more. But he kept his mouth shut. Will couldn't speak, he wouldn't speak. He could see Halt didn't know what to do with him anymore, as shown when he left Will with the guards.

_Two weeks later Will met Torradan, he was led to the boundary in between Araluen and Picta. Will already knew he was dealing with Pictans. When he entered a house filled with people he was told to go to the dining room, after asking directions the ranger stood in front of the door. Will knew he was risking his carrier, his freedom, his life even. Still he stood there, determined. Inside was a small man, who had a lot of muscles, brood shoulders and light hair. He had waves of confidence, of determination __as well,__ around him. You knew instantly that you shouldn't mess with him, this was Torradan._

Will had been in prison for three weeks now; every day someone from his past life came to see him and to ask him the same question, always the same. Why. He couldn't answer that, he had a reason but he kept his mouth shut, they couldn't know. Will knew he could tell, but the others couldn't hear. It would bring great problems. Not only for him.

_"I was told you had information." Was the first thing the other man said. __Will nodded._

_"Yes". The ranger didn't know what to call Torradan, so he resumed in saying no title at all. Will grabbed the piece of paper he had in his sack, and handed it over. It contained precious information; it would get him killed if Araluen knew. And somewhere not too deep inside he knew he wouldn't be as lucky as Halt when he was brought before Duncan for treason._

Again, Alyss came strolling in. She came every day, trying to work in on his feelings. She kept saying she loved him, although he knew it was a lie. How could someone, who dedicated her life to justice, like he once did but didn't anymore, love a criminal like him? Will had done the highest deed of injustice, treason. Even worse was it had been treason against King Duncan himself. He let himself slump down the wall. He had got a better cell, even if it was only slightly. No water came running down the walls, no mold in small corners. The ranger now had a bed, and that was it. He was still chained, although the lease was different, he could walk around this time. Not enough to reach the door, but he wasn't chained to the wall anymore. But still the chain was there, Will was a ranger after all; the escape risk was extremely high.

_The man began to smirk, reading the Intel on the note. "I like you, ranger. You keep surprising me. This is very important, if not to mention secret, information." He looked Will in the eye, trying to find anything that gives away any disloyalty. He knew Will was a worthy opponent, not to underestimate._

_"You know what will happen when you lie, don't you?" Torradan asked. Will kept staring right at him, not backing down from this silent fight. "Yes, I know." Torradan nodded in agreement, and in turn handed Will a small note. "Your mission." With that Torradan walked out of the room._

He pulled his chain, like he was doing all day long. It was getting looser, in a short time just a small tug would make the pin fall out of the stone wall. Will was waiting for that to happen. He wanted to escape. The ranger had a mission to full fill. He heard the stone tear, making more cracks in the wall. He pulled the pin out of the hole. Making it fall with a clang to the ground. Next obstacle, the door.

_Will was relieved; he made it out in a whole. Not even a bruise to show what he had been up to. Now Will had to go back to Redmont, and make sure Halt understood he had been on a mission, explaining his temporary leave. If he wouldn't, Halt would get suspicious. The old man had a tendency for paranoia, although, this time, there was an actual reason for it._

Not that long after, he had gotten the door to open. Slowly looking into the hallway, luckily seeing no guards, Will opened the door a little more, just enough to slip through. Closing the wooden door behind him, he made his way to the exit of the dungeons. He knew he would see guards on his way, and at the end he could see a small group of three guarding the exit. But they didn't expect runaways, and they weren't trained to face a ranger, and with a few smart kicks they were down, without knowing what hit them. With a smirk, which did not fit the old Will at all, this ranger escaped the highly guarded dungeon.

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That was it, short. I know. But still okay though, isn't it? As always, I love your input, ideas, what you thought of it. So, for now, Bye.

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	3. Chapter 3

**A New chapter! Don't get used to the fast updates. No, I'm just kidding, I am sorry it took so long. But this story is a serious pain in the ##s to write. So I don't know how long it will take to write another chapter. Though, reviews make me write faster, they make me feel guilty for letting you wait. **

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**Chapter 3**

Will had been in the dungeon for quite some time, and now he could finally see the light of day. It gave him a comforting feeling despite the fact that he wasn't out of danger yet. He saw all the people going about their daily business around and on the castle grounds. Will knew he had to get out of here soon. The news that he had escaped would reach Ranger ears soon, as news travelled fast. Slipping inside one of the castle stables he found Tug. The shaggy pony nudged his master's side affectionately. Will also grabbed one of the spare cloaks, which were hanging on the wall off a few crooked pegs. It wasn't his prized ranger cloak, but it'd do for now. Luckily, it was almost empty when exited the castle. He wasn't recognized by anyone. He had his hood firmly pulled over his head, his face in the shadows. That's how he liked it, that's what he had learned. The young ranger set off at a brisk pace, as the morning sun rose and the day got brighter.

_Will was reading a disturbing report, one filed by Halt. They were getting a lot closer by the organization of Torradan. They were getting suspicions, but they wouldn't even think of suspecting him. He had been Halt's apprentice, would never be a traitor. They would notice if he was. Will smirked at that. They were old rangers, paranoid of everything, but still so naïve._

_Will left the cabin. He had a mission to fulfil: killing one of Torradan's enemies. It was probably a person within his ranks who didn't completely give himself to the cause, who wasn't loyal enough. Will didn't care. He had to do it, so he did it, no questions asked. Slowly, he made his way to the village before him. As time flew by, lights went out everywere, small candles kept flickering, only to die out when the candle burned itself out. He crept up to one small house in particular, tucked away behind a small cluster of trees on the edge of the village. When he got there, the ranger saw the man, sitting in his armchair. He slid his bow from over his shoulder, and nocked an arrow. Will's actions were unhurried, enjoying the feeling of having the time. He took a deep breath, and fired._

While riding through the forest, Will kept thinking of what Halt told him a couple of days ago. He had seemed so lost. With a voice he was trying to keep emotionless but still sounding tired, Halt had given Will a piece of his mind.

"Will," he had said. "Out of all the things stupid things I've seen you do and the stupid things I'd thought you'd do, turning against the kingdom was not one of them." Will had felt the guilt weighing heavily in his heart, dragging him down deeper and deeper. _But this was my mess,_ the ranger thought, _it's my own fault_. He couldn't depend on Halt his whole life.

After a couple of days, Will was still close to the castle. He knew there were search parties everywhere, but they all assumed he had fled as far as he could, probably to Picta. He hadn't, he couldn't bear to leave it behind, especially his friends, whom he had betrayed. He knew, deep down, he wanted to be found. He wanted to share his story. He wanted his mentor to help him. With this thought in his mind, the ranger made his decision. He knew Halt had gone back to Redmont, so Will followed the path leading to his home village.

_The man was dead now. Will had fulfilled his duty as an assassin. But when he thought about it, hadn't he always been an assassin, since the day he joined the corps? He had killed more men than he could count, or even dared to think of. Will entered the cabin, and checked to see if the man he was set to kill was truly dead. He cleaned the mess, retrieving his arrow, which would be clear evidence of someone who had trained the in the ranger ways._

_Once he was done, he went back to his horse and still-loyal best friend, Tug. "I know," he whispered. He saw the look in his eyes. "I'm sorry." They made their way back through the forest, thinking of how nice it would be to sleep after a long day. Barely able to stay awake, Will swayed on his horse. He finally saw the cabin where he had spent his apprentice days coming up. In front of the cabin stood Crowley, the very corps commandant himself, and Halt. Both shared the same betrayed look, with maybe just a hint of concern. _

It was late when Halt finally returned to his cabin. He had been searching everywhere all day for his old apprentice, and he was exhausted. Halt swung the door open, hung his cloak on a worn peg by the door, and walked into the living room. A man, with a face so familiar yet so alien right now, sat in his favourite chair with two steaming mugs of coffee in front of him.

"What are you doing here?" The old ranger managed to hide most of his shock.

"I need your help." The man in the chair paused, a hard look in his eyes. "I've been blackmailed."

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**That's it for now, hope you enjoyed. I know, cliffhanger ^.^ **

**Untill the next time,**

**Elsforever**


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